Minutes of meeting held on 14th May 2008
In St Catherine Argyle Church Community Hall, Grange Road, 7.30pm
1 Sederunt
Anne Laird (Chair), Susanna Lacey (Secretary and Minutes)
LindsayThomson (Police),Alastair Philp(NP) Cherry Ledlie(JGPS Safe routes to school), Dorothy Ryle (Grange Association), Brian Harris (Magpie) Josh McAlister (EUSA)
Tina Cumming,,Claire MacGregor, Sarah Sandow, M.Malik, Cllr Mark McInnes, Linda Smith, Fiona Savage, John Simon, Audrey Simon, Ruth Stroud, Neil Brierley, Peter Warren, Margo MacDonald MSP, David Rintoul
2.Apologies
Susie Agnew, Mike Pringle MSP, Mike Shields, Fiona Scott, Cllr Steve Burgess, Cllr Cameron Rose, Cllr Allison Johnstone, Sarah Marchbanks, Anne Laing, Cllr Marylin McLaren
3. Minutes of meeting held 9th April 2008
Amendment “on behalf of Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links”
The minutes were accepted as a true record. Proposed: Linda Smith; Seconded: Cherry Ledlie.
4. Matters Arising
Chair requested to suspend matters arising to move swiftly onto police report followed by Margo MacDonald to speak on HMO’s
4 Police Report
PC Lindsey Thomson provided an update on crime trends in Marchmont and mentioned that PC Neil Sinclair, based in St Leonards is the new community beat officer for Sciennes area.
2x break-ins to business premises- both solved
Cycle theft is prolific, 6 stolen this month, slightly less than average. 2 have been solved.
Motor theft I theft and 2 attempts—none solved
Vandalism to vehicles on Marchmont Rd but no witnesses.
No graffitti reported
Minor assault 26th April on Meadows by youth 15-17yrs old. He attacked a man at 2am and then he attacked a couple at 2.10am
Sexual Offences
9th May 11pm report from 2 female students that a male 30yrs old followed them and exposed himself. He had thick wavy shoulder length hair and was wearing beige shorts.
16th April 10pm Similar incident. Female returning home was propositioned by a man standing under a lampost who then approached and tried to make contact with her. CID are following this up.
Summer plans for zero tolerance: in August there will be environmental wardens patrolling until 2am to combat violence and sexual crimes.There will be Police vans with CCTV cameras.
PC Lindsay then invited MSCC to make any suggestions as to how best to concentrate resources in the Meadows.
The Police will be watching for under 18yrs approaching off-licences. They will be using youngsters to attempt “test purchases of alcohol” to detect offending shopkeepers.
Margo MacDonald enquired if the police will challenge the licenses of offending off licences who have been targetted. The police can object to a licence and the licensing department can suspend it. Cllr Marjorie Thomas is addressing this.
5 HMO Discussion
The Chair and welcomed Margot Macdonald and Peter Warren who were attending to hear the discussion and Josh McAlister from EUSA. She said that she welcomed his participation and that the MSCC community benefited from the student presence. She introduced the discussion by summarising the difference between planning and licensing in HMOs. She wanted the discussion to consider whether there were too many HMOS and if so should these be restricted in some way. One of the problems was that HMOs in tenements differed in its effect from an HMO in ahouse. If there were too many HMOs would this ultimately affect the viability of the community... The need for the discussion was prompted by some complaints from residents received recentlyby members of the Community Council and the “Right to Rent” campaign launched by the students. It was some time since there had been discussion on this topic and the MSCC felt it was useful to identify where there might be problems and ascertain whether the community wished them to take further action and if so what action.
Margo MacDonald said that as she was living in this area, and as she was aware that there was a problem regarding HMO’s, she was willing to help build any bridges of communication which needed to be built and wanted to hear the views of the Community.
The recent “right to rent” campaign of local students had been aimed to influence MSPs
.
Alastair Philp said it would be useful to know why the students had started this campaign.
Josh McAlister said that following the recent SPP3 discussion, students had been concerned that planning laws were to be changed and the changes to a “quota” system would disadvantage students looking for rented accommodation. They were willing to engage with local communities in discussing solutions.
Susanna Lacey said that Government was addressing the problem through Planning to maintain sustainable communities while at the city council level the issue could be tackled via licensing departments limiting the numbers of HMO’s in an area.
Cllr Mark McInnes said the CEC were looking again at the quota system. Chris Wigglesworth conducted a study for the licensing dept but the paper was not signed through as there were concerns that controlling the HMO balance might lead to homelessness. Colin Keir has said that he will start proceedings now to look at this again
Josh McAlister asked again why there was a need to limit HMO’s. If the CEC took this action, then the students will take it to the Government level via student/city forums. He reminded MSCC that for students this is the first time that they are moving into the rented sector and that there is a shortage of flats.
The Chair asked what problems were encountered by MSCC members.
A number of people gave examples of problems they had encountered:
One member has made complaints regularly. 3 flats were suspended for 6 months but their licences will be renewed to coincide with arrival of new students at the start of term. There are 3 HMO’s with 5 students in each of these 4 bedroomed flats. They put fat down the drain, the door lock to the stair is always broken. The local residents have to pay for repairs caused by tenants of a landlord who is making a lot of money out of them. They complain, the landlord gets his licence renewed and nothing changes. The landlord is indifferent. The council is ineffectual.
The residents are disturbed by the constant noise through the wall, through the ceiling and in the shared back green.
Another member said he has a similar problem with the student neighbours and an absentee landlord.
A third member: there is also the problem when 5 people share a flat and then each brings in a partner so that there are 10 people living in a four bedroomed flat.
A fourth member also has problems from people in HMO flat above. She put in a complaint but nothing happened, the case was closed and the situation remains unchanged.
Josh McAlister said that if there is a problem with the numbers in a flat then licensing will come round to check. The feeling of the meeting was that this did not happen in practice.
Young professionals are a large part of HMO occupiers. He suggests a list of named HMO occupiers and carpets to muffle the noise. He asked what is a sustainable community, and who decides what is sustainable. The fact is that the student population in Edinburgh has doubled. He quoted figures of 2500 HMO’s in Glasgow where there is capping and 5100 HMO’s in Edinburgh where there is no capping.
Susanna Lacey reminded him that Glasgow has a very high proportion of domicillary students.
It was suggested that provision of purpose built property for students might be an answer to the problem
A resident who has lived in the area for 35 years said he was not aware of any problem and has not noticed any change in that time.
Margo McDonald said that one of the concerns of the CEC would be the provision of schools and how to decide what was required. If there are no young families what will happen to the schools in the area..
A resident pointed out the difference in hours that are kept, the difference in age groups, difference in lifestyle is one of the factors that causes problems.
Josh McAlister stated that there is an increase in postgraduate and international students with longer study periods and this should result in a change in the behaviour.
Another disagreed that there has been no change in the area. The licensing laws have changed and now young people do not go out until 11pm. Previously that is when they would be expected to return to their homes. Houses were built as a family home. These buildings are not being used as they were intended. It is wrong to have so many HMO’s
Another questioned poised was who looks after the stairs if there are too many HMO’s. Students don’t bother with maintenance of the tenements and don’t contact the landlord about problems they are having.
Some of the problems stem from landlords. There are the duties of a landlord. But there have been only two attempts at prosecution of landlords in the last two years.
Another member said that she has benefited from having some very good student neighbours.
Mark McInnes: people feel frustrated with the regulatory committee. If there is a problem they should use the powers they have. Councillors have been told that there is a conflict of interest if they try to represent the case for individual residents to the regulatory committee. This should be investigated
The Chair summed up the discussion: HMO’s were still causing problems in the area. The problems discussed were:
1. tenements not suited for overpopulation – tenants bringing in partners sometimes leads to overpopulation
2. regulatory process not satisfactory
3. there are some areas where the building structures are different and changing their use from their original purpose is not good.
4. need to improve the relationship between citizens and city council
5. Anti social behaviour is a separate issue but there can be a cause for concern in HMO properties; The regulatory must be made aware that the noise levels in HMO’s has gone up
6. The consensus seem to be that the regulatory authorities did not use the powers they had
Margo Macdonald said: The council are changing their housing policy to provide more affordable housing and that includes students. 25% affordable housing has been suggested for Edinburgh and 12% of the total population is student. Purpose built accommodation is required to maintain and increase the level of available rented accommodation.
Alastair Philp, representative on the Neighbourhood partnership, knew of no plan to change licensing policy.
Susanna Lacey suggested that perhaps Community Councils could ask Edinburgh City Council to reduce the time lag between complaints being made and decisions being taken. Enforcement should be improved and fines should be greatly increased.
Mark will find out when Colin Keir intends to meet with CC’s. He may decide to meet also with Neighbourhood Partnerships. Mark will also find out more about the paper which was produced last year and suggests that the council solicitor moves forward with regard to licensing.
MargoMacDonald said she had a vested interest in her constituents. Margo Macdonald and Mark McInnes will communicate to decide what standards need to be put in place.
Mark McInnes will report to the community council. A meeting has been suggested with Colin Keir and the CC’s.
The Chair asked whether any action should be taken with regard to planning eg should we ask that flats be considered differently from houses in planning regulations.
Margo MacDonald thought it best to go down the regulatory process and improve that process. There was a general consensus that this was what was required. Josh McAlister will keep in contact so that he is kept informed of any proposals for change
Action: As outlined above. Mark McInnes will report back on progress to the next meeting.
6.Consultation of Draft for Community Council Scheme and Code of Conduct
These documents are very extensive and will be put onto the blog
www.marchmondandsciennes.blogspot.com
Hard copies will also be obtained before the next meeting. Responses can then be submitted to the Secretary who will forward to Community Council Consultation at Victoria Quay
7.Marchmont Shopping Bag.
There will be an event to launch the shopping bag which will be on sale for £1 .
8.Neighbourhood Partnership
8.1. Motion to recommend installation of bollards after the “ramraid” driving a vehicle into a post office
8.2. Change to controlled parking regulations to include 9hr parking bays in Merchiston
8.3. Environmental forum, housing, tasking(police), improving quality of life in Dumbiedykes
8.4. Training sessions for NP members: understanding committees
8.5. Each NP is allocated £100,000 for roads and footways improvemnet
8.6 Presentation on the very productive and beneficial partnership of the NP, Tollcross and the Traders Association
8.7 Community Grant Application from Meadows Festival. £5000 awarded in principle.
8.8 Funds for streetscape can come from NP £100,000
9. South Edinburgh Public Partnership Forum (Health)
On 10th Dec 2007 the group was suspended. North is running smoothly, but South has had some conflict with an exchange of abusive e-mails. EVOC were called in and they interviewed everyone involved.
They are continuing as an informal group and getting through the work of the consultation documents.
A co-ordinating group is to be formed from among the 54 members to run the Forum for 1 year.
The problem may have been the domination of the community council groups and it was suggested that there should be only one member from each community council. Everyone wants the Forum to be successful, so as to have the opportunity to improve services and address the inequalities in health. (Ruth Stroud)
10.AOCB
10.1. Local Neighbourhood Plan: 4 groups to determine priorities. Southside Newington had different priorities from outlying groups. Priorities were graffiti, litter, bins and an electronic, secure voting system was used. (John Simon)
10.2 Meadows Place Closure. A study has been carried out by Neil Brierley which shows that cyclists are not really inconvenienced and in fact closing Meadows Place would be counterproductive.
Mark McInnes has made it clear to the Council that he and Maryline McLaren are not in favour of closure
Brian Harris suggests that police data is essential. There have been 10 accidents in 2 years.
10.3.Edinburgh Association of Community Councils will host their AGM on 21st June. Details on blog.
10.4.Tram Update. There will be a meeting to discuss the Trams on 29th May 7-9 pm.
11. Date of Next meeting is 11th June 2008. This will be the AGM followed by the general meeting.
Showing posts with label Minutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minutes. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Unapproved MSCC minutes 9 April 2008
(There will be an opportunity to approve these minutes at the May meeting of the group)
1 Sederunt and Apologies
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
2 Minutes of meeting held 12th March 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Cherry Ledlie; Seconded: Dorothy Ryle.)
3 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising that wouldn’t be covered later on in the meeting.
4 Police Report
PC Mike Brooks stood in for PC Lindsey Thomson to provide an updated police report:
In the last month, 72 crimes have been reported in this ward, and 21 of these have been solved to date.
- There have been six vandalisms.
- There have been several housebreakings, six of which have been solved. Housebreakings included incidents on Marchmont Street, Marchmont Crescent, Warrender Park Terrace, Glen Street and Roseneath Street. Scotmid has been broken into twice. The hairdresser’s on Warrender Park Road has also been broken into, and this seems to be part of a trend of break-ins to hairdressers across the city.
- There has been an upsurge in the theft of pedal cycles and the police are continuing to look at ways of addressing this.
- There have been regular weekend protests at Quarter Mile by anti-globalisation protesters, mainly aimed at Sainsburys and Starbucks, and this has included some petty vandalism.
General group discussion followed, and concerns were raised about incidents which took place overnight from the 31st March – 1st April, when a number of cars in the area had their tyres let down. PC Brooks explained that this was a seemingly one-off action by a group of climate change activists, calling themselves April Fools/April Fuels, and was said to be aimed mainly at 4x4 vehicles. The group expressed concern about the dangerous nature of these incidents if drivers hadn’t noticed that their tyres had been let down, and acknowledged that this is a separate group of people from those who routinely undertake auto-crime in the area.
It was also mentioned that residents should notify the Bike Station at Kittles Yard on Causewayside of any abandoned bicycles.
5 Report on seminar to discuss Scottish Planning Policy SPP3: Planning for Housing
Susanna Lacey reported back on her attendance at this seminar, concentrating mainly on the issue of licences for Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). The seminar included three presentations: one on the Scottish Government Planning Policy Review, one on Common Community Perspectives and one on Local Authority Perspectives. Attendants then split into discussion groups. Susanna highlighted some of the views that were expressed during the presentation and discussion groups, including the following:
- HMOs are not just for students, with an increasing number of occupants being transient workers and young professionals.
- Enforcing HMOs is difficult for the Council, and investigations are generally only made after a complaint. It can take 18 months for a decision, and result in a fine of £250. Higher fines for landlords were suggested.
- Planning is a devolved issue in Scotland.
- Councils don’t currently have strong powers to “close down” HMOs, or many resources to “police” HMOs.
- Many people at the seminar were against HMO quotas, including student representatives and the homeless charity Shelter.
- Many people at the seminar were supportive of HMO quotas.
- Should moves to tackle the “problem” be through planning or licensing?
- Applying quotas to HMOs may lead to illegal HMOs.
- There is a need for mixed, sustainable communities.
- HMO quotas could be perceived as social engineering.
The issue of HMO quotas triggered much discussion and speculation amongst MSCC members, and various issues were raised, including the following:
- The MSCC has spent considerable time in previous years looking at the issue of HMOs.
- There is an “HMO team” at the Council who will investigate suspected HMOs.
- 12% of the Edinburgh population is students.
- There is a recent trend towards the opening of new managed accommodation for students.
- There was some discussion of “difficult behaviour” by residents, whether this can be attributed mainly to students or HMO occupants, and the use of the HMO list as a tool to deal with difficult behaviour. It was suggested that strict tenancy agreements from landlords could help with anti-social behaviour by tenants, and it was questioned whether HMO licenses were relevant to anti-social behaviour since HMO licenses are mainly about ensuring the safety of tenants through the introduction of smoke alarms etc.
- The legality of applying quotas to HMOs has been questioned, and although Glasgow Council has introduced some quotas, it has been said that this was against the advice of their legal department. Certainly, Edinburgh Council maintains that it cannot legally introduce HMO quotas.
- HMO quotas are a planning issue, licensing is a separate issue.
- HMO licenses last for a year (possibly now extended to 3 years) and are difficult to remove. However, the Council can refuse to renew licences.
After lengthy discussion around many of these issues, it appeared that many within the MSCC were in favour of HMO quotas, and the group agreed that it would like to investigate this issue further.
ACTION
Susie Agnew will invite appropriate individuals from Edinburgh Council licensing department and planning department to the June meeting, which will include this issue as a main item on the agenda. A student representative will also be invited.
6 Planning Act 2006
A consultation is currently underway on the implementation of this act, and ends in May. There was brief discussion of this consultation, and though few people present had read the consultation document, preliminary indications were that the new arrangements are likely to have positive rather than negative implications for the MSCC. It is likely that the MSCC will have to be more organised in its planning objections in the future, but that the community will have an earlier opportunity to hear about and feed back on new plans.
ACTION
Anne Laird will review the consultation document and prepare a response if appropriate.
7 Meadows Festival
The Meadows Festival will take place on 7th/8th June. There will be various stalls, bands and activities, including football. Although it was not possible this year to plan the festival to coincide with Keith Taylor’s amusements on the Meadows, he has agreed to provide a bouncy castle and a few rides for children, and it is hoped that the two events will be able to coincide next year.
£30,000 is required to put on the festival. An Arts Council grant of £10,000 has been applied for, £500 sponsorship has been provided for the football, and there are plans to apply for a Neighbourhood Partnership grant for further funds. Prices for hiring stalls are available at the Meadows Festival blogspot: www.meadowsfestival.blogspot.com
ACTION
- Cameron Rose will e-mail Susanna Lacey the relevant form for applying for a Neighbourhood Partnership grant.
- Mike Shields will arrange with Susanna Lacey to meet with the planning committee.
- Susie Agnew and Sarah Marchbanks will look at the MSCC accounts with a view to the MSCC making a small donation towards the funding of the festival.
- Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help out with the festival should contact Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com or access via the blog at www.meadowsfestival.blogspot.com.
8 Urban Circus (Ladyboys of Bangkok)
Susie Agnew informed the group that Peng Lee Yap has written to the Council expressing the view that a limit of 10pm for music should be imposed through the public entertainment license. Cllr Cameron Rose reported that a short-life working group has been set up to look at issues such as this concerning the Meadows, but won’t have guidelines drawn up by August.
Peng Lee Yap has also objected to the granting of a liquor licence to the Urban Circus. Such a license has not yet been applied for, but has been granted in previous years. Peng Lee Yap’s letter also suggested that if a liquor license is granted it should have a limit of 10pm and be on condition that the area is tidied up afterwards.
Mike Shields reported that he will be meeting with representatives from the Urban Circus to discuss exactly what the Urban Circus require in terms of vehicles, caravans etc for their camp during August, bearing in mind various concerns that have been raised by local residents in the past.
ACTION Mike Shields will convey the feelings of the community council at his meeting next week.
9 Any other business
9.1 Streetscape
Developments to the Marchmont streetscape (discussed in length at previous meetings) are now underway, and Susie Agnew reported that they are not quite as she had expected, with pavements being widened by 75cm rather than 150 cm due to some issues uncovered during the development work.
Some extra money has been found for the project, and will be used to lay a new surface on the footpath down Argyle Place to match Roseneath Street. A request for additional cycle racks was made by traders, and these are being placed on Argyle Park Terrace. Susie Agnew also reported that the pavement on the south side of the street between the hardware shop and near the Earl of Marchmont has very bad tarmac and she will write to request an improvement.
9.2 Cycle Racks
There are new cycle racks available for public use outside Marchmont St Giles Church.
9.2 Benches in Grange Cemetery
George Bell, Susie Agnew and Dorothy Ryle met to discuss the more helpful positioning of benches in the Grange Cemetery. They agreed that one of the existing benches would be moved to a better place, and that the Council will probably be able to find another bench to put in the cemetery. Susie Agnew expressed appreciation for the helpfulness and co-operation of the Council in this matter.
9.3 Grant from Neighbourhood Partnership
The £2000 grant from the Neighbourhood Partnership has now arrived and needs to be used within the next 4 months.
ACTION
Susie Agnew will ask Melanie Main if she will action the spending of this grant.
Susie Agnew will make inquiries into the location of the MSCC’s hanging baskets, which were apparently used once a few years ago and have not been seen since.
Fiona Scott will look into the location of the MSCC’s gazebos, which also seem to have disappeared. If they are located, they will be lent to the Meadows Festival.
9.4 Other items of interest
Susanna Lacey notified the group of various other items of interest, including:
- Community Council training sessions
- World Heritage Day, taking place on 18th April in the Scottish Storytelling Centre
- Care & Repair for older and disabled people
- Energy Efficiency in historic homes conference on the 2nd May
- Community Council Joint Meeting on 24th April at 7pm in the Council Headquarters, looking particularly at partnership working and the role of community councils.
Information about all of these items will be available on the community council blog: www.marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com.
ACTION Anyone wishing to attend the Community Council joint meeting should let Susanna know: slacey1@aol.com.
9.5 MAGPIE
John Simon reported that an emergency meeting of MAGPIE will take place on 17th April at 7.30pm at the Croquet Club to discuss the future of MAGPIE. Various individuals expressed an interest in attending, and John Simon and Susanna Lacey intend to attend.
10 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 14 May 2008, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
1 Sederunt and Apologies
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
2 Minutes of meeting held 12th March 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Cherry Ledlie; Seconded: Dorothy Ryle.)
3 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising that wouldn’t be covered later on in the meeting.
4 Police Report
PC Mike Brooks stood in for PC Lindsey Thomson to provide an updated police report:
In the last month, 72 crimes have been reported in this ward, and 21 of these have been solved to date.
- There have been six vandalisms.
- There have been several housebreakings, six of which have been solved. Housebreakings included incidents on Marchmont Street, Marchmont Crescent, Warrender Park Terrace, Glen Street and Roseneath Street. Scotmid has been broken into twice. The hairdresser’s on Warrender Park Road has also been broken into, and this seems to be part of a trend of break-ins to hairdressers across the city.
- There has been an upsurge in the theft of pedal cycles and the police are continuing to look at ways of addressing this.
- There have been regular weekend protests at Quarter Mile by anti-globalisation protesters, mainly aimed at Sainsburys and Starbucks, and this has included some petty vandalism.
General group discussion followed, and concerns were raised about incidents which took place overnight from the 31st March – 1st April, when a number of cars in the area had their tyres let down. PC Brooks explained that this was a seemingly one-off action by a group of climate change activists, calling themselves April Fools/April Fuels, and was said to be aimed mainly at 4x4 vehicles. The group expressed concern about the dangerous nature of these incidents if drivers hadn’t noticed that their tyres had been let down, and acknowledged that this is a separate group of people from those who routinely undertake auto-crime in the area.
It was also mentioned that residents should notify the Bike Station at Kittles Yard on Causewayside of any abandoned bicycles.
5 Report on seminar to discuss Scottish Planning Policy SPP3: Planning for Housing
Susanna Lacey reported back on her attendance at this seminar, concentrating mainly on the issue of licences for Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). The seminar included three presentations: one on the Scottish Government Planning Policy Review, one on Common Community Perspectives and one on Local Authority Perspectives. Attendants then split into discussion groups. Susanna highlighted some of the views that were expressed during the presentation and discussion groups, including the following:
- HMOs are not just for students, with an increasing number of occupants being transient workers and young professionals.
- Enforcing HMOs is difficult for the Council, and investigations are generally only made after a complaint. It can take 18 months for a decision, and result in a fine of £250. Higher fines for landlords were suggested.
- Planning is a devolved issue in Scotland.
- Councils don’t currently have strong powers to “close down” HMOs, or many resources to “police” HMOs.
- Many people at the seminar were against HMO quotas, including student representatives and the homeless charity Shelter.
- Many people at the seminar were supportive of HMO quotas.
- Should moves to tackle the “problem” be through planning or licensing?
- Applying quotas to HMOs may lead to illegal HMOs.
- There is a need for mixed, sustainable communities.
- HMO quotas could be perceived as social engineering.
The issue of HMO quotas triggered much discussion and speculation amongst MSCC members, and various issues were raised, including the following:
- The MSCC has spent considerable time in previous years looking at the issue of HMOs.
- There is an “HMO team” at the Council who will investigate suspected HMOs.
- 12% of the Edinburgh population is students.
- There is a recent trend towards the opening of new managed accommodation for students.
- There was some discussion of “difficult behaviour” by residents, whether this can be attributed mainly to students or HMO occupants, and the use of the HMO list as a tool to deal with difficult behaviour. It was suggested that strict tenancy agreements from landlords could help with anti-social behaviour by tenants, and it was questioned whether HMO licenses were relevant to anti-social behaviour since HMO licenses are mainly about ensuring the safety of tenants through the introduction of smoke alarms etc.
- The legality of applying quotas to HMOs has been questioned, and although Glasgow Council has introduced some quotas, it has been said that this was against the advice of their legal department. Certainly, Edinburgh Council maintains that it cannot legally introduce HMO quotas.
- HMO quotas are a planning issue, licensing is a separate issue.
- HMO licenses last for a year (possibly now extended to 3 years) and are difficult to remove. However, the Council can refuse to renew licences.
After lengthy discussion around many of these issues, it appeared that many within the MSCC were in favour of HMO quotas, and the group agreed that it would like to investigate this issue further.
ACTION
Susie Agnew will invite appropriate individuals from Edinburgh Council licensing department and planning department to the June meeting, which will include this issue as a main item on the agenda. A student representative will also be invited.
6 Planning Act 2006
A consultation is currently underway on the implementation of this act, and ends in May. There was brief discussion of this consultation, and though few people present had read the consultation document, preliminary indications were that the new arrangements are likely to have positive rather than negative implications for the MSCC. It is likely that the MSCC will have to be more organised in its planning objections in the future, but that the community will have an earlier opportunity to hear about and feed back on new plans.
ACTION
Anne Laird will review the consultation document and prepare a response if appropriate.
7 Meadows Festival
The Meadows Festival will take place on 7th/8th June. There will be various stalls, bands and activities, including football. Although it was not possible this year to plan the festival to coincide with Keith Taylor’s amusements on the Meadows, he has agreed to provide a bouncy castle and a few rides for children, and it is hoped that the two events will be able to coincide next year.
£30,000 is required to put on the festival. An Arts Council grant of £10,000 has been applied for, £500 sponsorship has been provided for the football, and there are plans to apply for a Neighbourhood Partnership grant for further funds. Prices for hiring stalls are available at the Meadows Festival blogspot: www.meadowsfestival.blogspot.com
ACTION
- Cameron Rose will e-mail Susanna Lacey the relevant form for applying for a Neighbourhood Partnership grant.
- Mike Shields will arrange with Susanna Lacey to meet with the planning committee.
- Susie Agnew and Sarah Marchbanks will look at the MSCC accounts with a view to the MSCC making a small donation towards the funding of the festival.
- Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help out with the festival should contact Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com or access via the blog at www.meadowsfestival.blogspot.com.
8 Urban Circus (Ladyboys of Bangkok)
Susie Agnew informed the group that Peng Lee Yap has written to the Council expressing the view that a limit of 10pm for music should be imposed through the public entertainment license. Cllr Cameron Rose reported that a short-life working group has been set up to look at issues such as this concerning the Meadows, but won’t have guidelines drawn up by August.
Peng Lee Yap has also objected to the granting of a liquor licence to the Urban Circus. Such a license has not yet been applied for, but has been granted in previous years. Peng Lee Yap’s letter also suggested that if a liquor license is granted it should have a limit of 10pm and be on condition that the area is tidied up afterwards.
Mike Shields reported that he will be meeting with representatives from the Urban Circus to discuss exactly what the Urban Circus require in terms of vehicles, caravans etc for their camp during August, bearing in mind various concerns that have been raised by local residents in the past.
ACTION Mike Shields will convey the feelings of the community council at his meeting next week.
9 Any other business
9.1 Streetscape
Developments to the Marchmont streetscape (discussed in length at previous meetings) are now underway, and Susie Agnew reported that they are not quite as she had expected, with pavements being widened by 75cm rather than 150 cm due to some issues uncovered during the development work.
Some extra money has been found for the project, and will be used to lay a new surface on the footpath down Argyle Place to match Roseneath Street. A request for additional cycle racks was made by traders, and these are being placed on Argyle Park Terrace. Susie Agnew also reported that the pavement on the south side of the street between the hardware shop and near the Earl of Marchmont has very bad tarmac and she will write to request an improvement.
9.2 Cycle Racks
There are new cycle racks available for public use outside Marchmont St Giles Church.
9.2 Benches in Grange Cemetery
George Bell, Susie Agnew and Dorothy Ryle met to discuss the more helpful positioning of benches in the Grange Cemetery. They agreed that one of the existing benches would be moved to a better place, and that the Council will probably be able to find another bench to put in the cemetery. Susie Agnew expressed appreciation for the helpfulness and co-operation of the Council in this matter.
9.3 Grant from Neighbourhood Partnership
The £2000 grant from the Neighbourhood Partnership has now arrived and needs to be used within the next 4 months.
ACTION
Susie Agnew will ask Melanie Main if she will action the spending of this grant.
Susie Agnew will make inquiries into the location of the MSCC’s hanging baskets, which were apparently used once a few years ago and have not been seen since.
Fiona Scott will look into the location of the MSCC’s gazebos, which also seem to have disappeared. If they are located, they will be lent to the Meadows Festival.
9.4 Other items of interest
Susanna Lacey notified the group of various other items of interest, including:
- Community Council training sessions
- World Heritage Day, taking place on 18th April in the Scottish Storytelling Centre
- Care & Repair for older and disabled people
- Energy Efficiency in historic homes conference on the 2nd May
- Community Council Joint Meeting on 24th April at 7pm in the Council Headquarters, looking particularly at partnership working and the role of community councils.
Information about all of these items will be available on the community council blog: www.marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com.
ACTION Anyone wishing to attend the Community Council joint meeting should let Susanna know: slacey1@aol.com.
9.5 MAGPIE
John Simon reported that an emergency meeting of MAGPIE will take place on 17th April at 7.30pm at the Croquet Club to discuss the future of MAGPIE. Various individuals expressed an interest in attending, and John Simon and Susanna Lacey intend to attend.
10 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 14 May 2008, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
Thursday, 27 March 2008
MSCC minutes March 2008
1 Sederunt and Apologies
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
2 Minutes of meeting held 20th February 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Sarah Sandow; Seconded: Alastair Philp.)
3 Matters Arising
3.1 Lunch Club
Susie Agnew reported that no progress has been made on this since the February meeting as they are awaiting the results of the next Marchmont St Giles Church session meeting.
3.2 Cycle Racks
Susie Agnew reported that she has discussed this matter with Cherry Ledlie and the cycle racks are still not in a suitable place from the point of view of parents. She has therefore written another letter to Jim Grieve on this issue.
3.3 Grange Cemetery
Susie Agnew reported that the Scottish Geneology Society may be able to help the MSCC by sharing the information it has already transcribed from the headstones at Grange Cemetery. However, this information is all currently hand-written.
3.4 Meadow Place
Cllr Mark McInnes reported that he had proposed a motion to the Transport Committee that there should be a full report into traffic safety in Marchmont, taking into account Meadows Place, Marchmont Road and Melville Drive all together. This motion was passed and no further action will be taken to close Meadows Place until this report has been received. It is expected that this report will be published early in the summer, and Cllr McInnes advised that this is when the MSCC should consider making a deputation if necessary.
Some general discussion followed, and the group reiterated its disbelief at the conclusions drawn from the Council’s modelling of the traffic at these junctions. Two members of the group voiced their intention to spend some time counting traffic at the junction.
ACTION: The group will await this report with interest.
3.5 Buses
Susie Agnew reported that she has written a letter on behalf of the MSCC to Morningside and Merchiston Community Council’s to support them with their request for a bus which turns left at the bottom of Lothian Road. Other community councils have done the same. A meeting is being planned in St George’s Church West on Shandwick Place to discuss this, but no date has yet been arranged.
General discussion followed and it was suggested that the MSCC should pursue the issue of an improved no.24 bus service, possibly suggesting that some extra part-route buses are put on during peak times to cover the most popular sections of the route. It was agreed that there might be an opportunity to bring this up at the meeting in St George’s Church West.
ACTION When a date has been set for this meeting, volunteers to attend will be sought by e-mail.
4 Police Report
PC Lindsey Thomson provided an updated police report. Crime statistics during the month of February have been low in Marchmont, Sciennes and the Grange:
- 11 motor vehicles were vandalised, two were broken in to, and three vehicles were stolen. 12 bicycles were also stolen.
- Following discussions at the February meeting PC Thomson has made inquiries to the Council about the official position regarding the storage of bicycles in common stairs. Although the Council has produced a leaflet advising people not to store bikes in stairwells, they have no legal powers to remove or prohibit bike storage unless bicycles are obstructing fire exits. Each complaint about bikes in stairwells would therefore be judged on an individual basis.
- There have been six house-breakings, including the German speaking church. A hairdresser’s in Roseneath Street was broken in to and those responsible have been found, and are also responsible for eight previous similar crimes.
- The fish-sellers mentioned at a previous meeting have been tracked down and charged for operating without a street-traders licence.
- There have been two separate incidents occurring on the Meadows in the early hours of the morning in which victims were walking alone and had their bags/wallets stolen.
Brief general discussion followed, and PC Thomson took down details of new graffiti that had been spotted in the area and of hand-made signs that have been made warning of car-breakings in certain streets.
5 Seminar to discuss Scottish Planning Policy SPP3: Planning for Housing
Susanna Lacey will be attending this seminar on behalf of the MSCC, and gave the group the opportunity to notify her of anything relevant that they’d specifically like her to raise. There was some discussion of affordable housing, but no conclusions were drawn that were felt to be of particular relevance to this meeting. There was also discussion Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) quotas, but it was felt that these issues were unlikely to be relevant to this meeting, and in any case there was no consensus among group members on this issue. However, it would seem that there will be a meeting of Community Councils and City of Edinburgh Council to discuss the issue of HMO quotas in the future. There was also some discussion of the plans for the development of flats and townhouses on the corner of Whitehouse Loan and Newbattle Terrace. Cllr McInnes reported that the local residents had not objected to the plans although some MSCC members had concerns that they were not in keeping with their surroundings. Cherry Ledlie wondered whether this development may offer an opportunity of adding some kind of a safer crossing nearby.
ACTION
If it seems relevant to the seminar, Susanna Lacey will raise the following points on behalf of the MSCC:
- Newly builded properties should plan in space for drying clothes
- Planning regulations should be made more amenable to saving energy
- How do some designs get approved when they re not in-keeping with surroundings?
Mark McInnes will write to City Development to see if some kind of safer crossing at Whitehouse Loan/Newbattle Terrace might be on the cards in the future.
6 Neighbourhood Partnership Report
Alastair Philp gave a report on the most recent Neighbourhood Partnership (NP) meeting:
- Updates were provided by the Tollcross short-life working group, and the Meadows short-life working group on which John Simon is the MSCC representative. The Meadows group has discussed what events should be allowed on the Meadows and what the consultation process should be. There has been a request for more monitoring of events and more community engagement.
- The Local Community Plan will be presented to the NP at some point in the future as it is not yet ready.
- Robert Aitken of NHS Lothian gave a presentation which included mention of the re-development of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. It has not yet been decided what is happening with this re-development and whether or not some services may move.
- There is one CCTV camera in this NP area and currently no prospect of more.
- There was a presentation from Special Branch on terrorist activity. People were told not to worry about this, but to remain aware and notify the police of any suspicious activity.
- A report was tabled about voter registration.
- Information was provided about the Community Grants fund, which the MSCC is already aware of.
- There are new proposals for all-day parking in the Merchiston area, and a further meeting will be set up in the future to discuss this.
- Alastair has spoken to Susan Bruce about the MSCC accessing its grant and she will look into this.
- The next meeting of the NP will take place on 12 May 2008.
ACTION
Mark McInnes will find out what is happening regarding the tweaks to parking regulations that were discussed at an October meeting of Council which Susie Agnew and Hugh Leather attended as a deputation.
7 Future meeting dates
Susie Agnew has e-mailed other local community councils in an attempt to avoid clashes with their future meeting dates. The Grange Association will aim to avoid the second Wednesday of the month, and Morningside & Merchiston Community Council generally meet on the third Wednesday of the month. It was agreed that the MSCC will therefore continue to meet on the second Wednesday of the month. There was brief discussion of whether the frequency of MSCC meetings is appropriate to the amount of business to be discussed.
ACTION The MSCC will continue to meet monthly except there will be no meetings in July, August or December. Whether or not a meeting takes place in January will depend on half-term dates.
8 Any other business
· A “Talk to your MSP” meeting will take place n Saturday 15th March at the City Chambers from 10am-1pm
· A “How Planners Make Decisions” meeting will take place on Tuesday 18th March at 7pm in Polwarth Parish Church.
· The MSCC has been asked to nominate someone from the city, or a long-term resident, for the “Edinburgh Award”.
· Other relevant notices and information were mentioned and will go on the MSCC blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
9 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 9 April 2008, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
2 Minutes of meeting held 20th February 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Sarah Sandow; Seconded: Alastair Philp.)
3 Matters Arising
3.1 Lunch Club
Susie Agnew reported that no progress has been made on this since the February meeting as they are awaiting the results of the next Marchmont St Giles Church session meeting.
3.2 Cycle Racks
Susie Agnew reported that she has discussed this matter with Cherry Ledlie and the cycle racks are still not in a suitable place from the point of view of parents. She has therefore written another letter to Jim Grieve on this issue.
3.3 Grange Cemetery
Susie Agnew reported that the Scottish Geneology Society may be able to help the MSCC by sharing the information it has already transcribed from the headstones at Grange Cemetery. However, this information is all currently hand-written.
3.4 Meadow Place
Cllr Mark McInnes reported that he had proposed a motion to the Transport Committee that there should be a full report into traffic safety in Marchmont, taking into account Meadows Place, Marchmont Road and Melville Drive all together. This motion was passed and no further action will be taken to close Meadows Place until this report has been received. It is expected that this report will be published early in the summer, and Cllr McInnes advised that this is when the MSCC should consider making a deputation if necessary.
Some general discussion followed, and the group reiterated its disbelief at the conclusions drawn from the Council’s modelling of the traffic at these junctions. Two members of the group voiced their intention to spend some time counting traffic at the junction.
ACTION: The group will await this report with interest.
3.5 Buses
Susie Agnew reported that she has written a letter on behalf of the MSCC to Morningside and Merchiston Community Council’s to support them with their request for a bus which turns left at the bottom of Lothian Road. Other community councils have done the same. A meeting is being planned in St George’s Church West on Shandwick Place to discuss this, but no date has yet been arranged.
General discussion followed and it was suggested that the MSCC should pursue the issue of an improved no.24 bus service, possibly suggesting that some extra part-route buses are put on during peak times to cover the most popular sections of the route. It was agreed that there might be an opportunity to bring this up at the meeting in St George’s Church West.
ACTION When a date has been set for this meeting, volunteers to attend will be sought by e-mail.
4 Police Report
PC Lindsey Thomson provided an updated police report. Crime statistics during the month of February have been low in Marchmont, Sciennes and the Grange:
- 11 motor vehicles were vandalised, two were broken in to, and three vehicles were stolen. 12 bicycles were also stolen.
- Following discussions at the February meeting PC Thomson has made inquiries to the Council about the official position regarding the storage of bicycles in common stairs. Although the Council has produced a leaflet advising people not to store bikes in stairwells, they have no legal powers to remove or prohibit bike storage unless bicycles are obstructing fire exits. Each complaint about bikes in stairwells would therefore be judged on an individual basis.
- There have been six house-breakings, including the German speaking church. A hairdresser’s in Roseneath Street was broken in to and those responsible have been found, and are also responsible for eight previous similar crimes.
- The fish-sellers mentioned at a previous meeting have been tracked down and charged for operating without a street-traders licence.
- There have been two separate incidents occurring on the Meadows in the early hours of the morning in which victims were walking alone and had their bags/wallets stolen.
Brief general discussion followed, and PC Thomson took down details of new graffiti that had been spotted in the area and of hand-made signs that have been made warning of car-breakings in certain streets.
5 Seminar to discuss Scottish Planning Policy SPP3: Planning for Housing
Susanna Lacey will be attending this seminar on behalf of the MSCC, and gave the group the opportunity to notify her of anything relevant that they’d specifically like her to raise. There was some discussion of affordable housing, but no conclusions were drawn that were felt to be of particular relevance to this meeting. There was also discussion Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) quotas, but it was felt that these issues were unlikely to be relevant to this meeting, and in any case there was no consensus among group members on this issue. However, it would seem that there will be a meeting of Community Councils and City of Edinburgh Council to discuss the issue of HMO quotas in the future. There was also some discussion of the plans for the development of flats and townhouses on the corner of Whitehouse Loan and Newbattle Terrace. Cllr McInnes reported that the local residents had not objected to the plans although some MSCC members had concerns that they were not in keeping with their surroundings. Cherry Ledlie wondered whether this development may offer an opportunity of adding some kind of a safer crossing nearby.
ACTION
If it seems relevant to the seminar, Susanna Lacey will raise the following points on behalf of the MSCC:
- Newly builded properties should plan in space for drying clothes
- Planning regulations should be made more amenable to saving energy
- How do some designs get approved when they re not in-keeping with surroundings?
Mark McInnes will write to City Development to see if some kind of safer crossing at Whitehouse Loan/Newbattle Terrace might be on the cards in the future.
6 Neighbourhood Partnership Report
Alastair Philp gave a report on the most recent Neighbourhood Partnership (NP) meeting:
- Updates were provided by the Tollcross short-life working group, and the Meadows short-life working group on which John Simon is the MSCC representative. The Meadows group has discussed what events should be allowed on the Meadows and what the consultation process should be. There has been a request for more monitoring of events and more community engagement.
- The Local Community Plan will be presented to the NP at some point in the future as it is not yet ready.
- Robert Aitken of NHS Lothian gave a presentation which included mention of the re-development of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. It has not yet been decided what is happening with this re-development and whether or not some services may move.
- There is one CCTV camera in this NP area and currently no prospect of more.
- There was a presentation from Special Branch on terrorist activity. People were told not to worry about this, but to remain aware and notify the police of any suspicious activity.
- A report was tabled about voter registration.
- Information was provided about the Community Grants fund, which the MSCC is already aware of.
- There are new proposals for all-day parking in the Merchiston area, and a further meeting will be set up in the future to discuss this.
- Alastair has spoken to Susan Bruce about the MSCC accessing its grant and she will look into this.
- The next meeting of the NP will take place on 12 May 2008.
ACTION
Mark McInnes will find out what is happening regarding the tweaks to parking regulations that were discussed at an October meeting of Council which Susie Agnew and Hugh Leather attended as a deputation.
7 Future meeting dates
Susie Agnew has e-mailed other local community councils in an attempt to avoid clashes with their future meeting dates. The Grange Association will aim to avoid the second Wednesday of the month, and Morningside & Merchiston Community Council generally meet on the third Wednesday of the month. It was agreed that the MSCC will therefore continue to meet on the second Wednesday of the month. There was brief discussion of whether the frequency of MSCC meetings is appropriate to the amount of business to be discussed.
ACTION The MSCC will continue to meet monthly except there will be no meetings in July, August or December. Whether or not a meeting takes place in January will depend on half-term dates.
8 Any other business
· A “Talk to your MSP” meeting will take place n Saturday 15th March at the City Chambers from 10am-1pm
· A “How Planners Make Decisions” meeting will take place on Tuesday 18th March at 7pm in Polwarth Parish Church.
· The MSCC has been asked to nominate someone from the city, or a long-term resident, for the “Edinburgh Award”.
· Other relevant notices and information were mentioned and will go on the MSCC blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
9 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 9 April 2008, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
Thursday, 28 February 2008
MSCC minutes, 20 February 2008
1 Sederunt and Apologies
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting. In particular she welcomed Susanna Lacey to her first meeting as MSCC secretary, and members of SPOKES who had made a special effort to attend this meeting for the Meadow Place presentation.
2 Minutes of Meeting held 9 January 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Sarah Sandow; Seconded: Mr Malik.)
3 Matters Arising
3.1 Lunch Club
Susie Agnew reported that a preliminary meeting has been held between herself, Mr Malik, Rev Karen Watson and the Sessions Clerk at Marchmont St Giles to discuss the possibility of holding a weekly multicultural lunch club at Marchmont St Giles. The venue is in high demand, so it looks like the club will have a ‘late’ lunch, and the need for menus to cater to both European and Asian tastes was discussed. Someone will be required to run the lunch club, and this will be a paid position of roughly 6 hours per week. The MSCC will be kept updated of progress on this issue.
3.2 Cycle Racks
Susie reported that she had received a letter from Jim Grieve at Edinburgh City Council explaining that the current cycle racks outside James Gillespies are a temporary measure, and that the long-term plan is to provide a separate cycle entrance adjacent to the existing entrance which will lead directly to cycle parking areas within the school grounds.
Cherie Ledlie explained that there are still some concerns amongst parents and teachers, and they would like assurances that teachers will be able to use the racks inside the school grounds. There is also some confusion as to why new gates are required.
ACTION: Susie Agnew will discuss with Cherie Ledlie and Ken Dougall and agree how to pursue this issue further.
3.3 3Ms Youth Partnership
Susie Agnew reported that the 3Ms Youth Partnership has secured a further year of funding to enable Lucy Howie to continue to work with vulnerable young people in the local area. 50% of this funding was provided by the Community Safety Department and 50% from the Children and Families department at Edinburgh City Council. However, during the year the Children and Families Department will explore means for longer term funding.
3.4 Grange Cemetery
Susie Agnew has found out that the Scottish Geneology Society have been gradually working to transcribe the writing from the headstones in the Grange Cemetery. Susie has passed on to them a list of all the headstones that have recently been laid flat, and it may be that they can provide information which will save the MSCC time in its project to get support for reinstating some of these grave stones.
3.5 Secretary
The meeting formally expressed its sincere appreciation for all the work Hugh Leather did during his time as secretary, especially all the time and effort he spent in setting up and sustaining the MSCC blog and other e-communications.
3.6 Neigbourhood Partnership Board
Alastair Philp reported that the Neighbourhood Partnership Board has formally approved the MSCC’s grant application for £1985. He also updated the group that he has received a letter explaining why the South Edinburgh Community Health Partnership Forum was suspended and that a process is underway to ensure the group starts again as soon as possible. Anyone wishing to see this letter should contact Alastair Philp: alastair@mvbio.co.uk
4 Police Report
PC Lindsey Thomson provided an up-to-date police report:
- Housebreaking figures have remained similar over the last four months, with six incidents in January, four of which have been solved. During January the police also distributed leaflets and offered crime prevention advice to residents.
- PC Thomson notified the group of some incidents in Polwarth where men in a white transit van had been using high pressure sales techniques to sell high quantities of low quality fish to residents.
- Cycle theft has fallen in the local area with only 3 incidents in the last month. However, cycle theft has risen in the university area and plain clothes officers have been making efforts to catch those responsible.
- A robbery took place in Threshers on Melville Terrace at 5pm on the 15th February. A well-built man in his late 20s/early 30s, using a kitchen knife as a weapon, stole £260 from the till. Anyone with any information should inform the police.
- Some more incidents of graffiti have taken place, including on the university library, the German church and the Astley Ainsley. The police have caught two graffiti taggers.
- In the last month, three cars have been broken into and four cars vandalised.
- There was a breach of the peace on Strathearn Road in early January.
- The police have been making efforts to monitor crowds of youths congregating on the Meadows. PC Thomson also asked the group to notify her of any known youth ‘hotspots’, and the suggestions of Moncrieff Terrace, the back gate to the Usher Institute and Marchmont Crescent were made.
- The police have been working to engage with local business, finding out about their experience of local crime and advising them on improving the security of their premises.
- There has been a recent spate of break-ins to hairdressers in the Southside area.
An opportunity for group discussion followed:
- There was some discussion of the Council policy on bikes being kept in stairwells and whether the police could work with the Council to reduce the number of bicycles being kept in stairwells. PC Thomson will give this some consideration.
- Marilyne Maclaren suggested that there has been a recent trend of people using scaffolding to spray graffiti on usually inaccessible areas of tenement blocks. The Council won’t remove graffitti from private property, and individuals can’t use existing scaffolding to remove graffiti themselves. This results in graffiti being left in tact on a long-term basis.
Anyone who wants to contact PC Thomson should e-mail: lindsey.thomson@lbp.pnn.police.uk
5 Meadow Place
Susie Agnew explained that the MSCC had previously written a letter objecting to the closure of Meadow Place on the basis that it was unwise to close this road without giving due consideration to the implications this would have for the junction as a whole (Marchmont Road, Melville Drive and Meadows Place) and other related safety issues in this area. The MSCC had previously requested accident statistics from the Council which it felt backed up these concerns, and suggested that the Council should add traffic lights to the Marchmont Road junction to improve safety.
Brian Butler, Interim Transport Services Manager at Edinburgh City Council gave a presentation on the planned closure of Meadows Place, frequently interrupted by questions and concerns from the group. Brian Butler explained that the City of Edinburgh Council local transport strategy for 2007 included as a priority the need to increase cycling in the city. The proposed closure of Meadows Place was intended to complete an unbroken, safe and easy cycle route from Bruntsfield Place to Forrest Road. The MSCC’s objection was the only one that had been raised to this proposal.
Brian Butler explained that a number of accidents had occurred at the Meadows Place junction, and the proposed closure was seen as a straightforward way of making it safer. He explained that although more accidents overall had occurred at the Marchmont Road junction than the Meadows Place Junction, over the last 10 years, three interventions have been made at the Marchmont Road junction which have brought the number of accidents down and changed the type of accident occurring. When making decisions about spending money on improvements, the Council takes into account the cost of the improvement and the benefit expected as a result. Therefore, the perceived reduction in accidents at this junction, combined with the expense of adding traffic lights, means that it would be against the Council’s current policies to signalise this junction.
In addition, he explained that the Council has used modelling tools to predict the effect of the proposed closure on traffic flow in the area, and come to the conclusion that the closure wouldn’t have a significant negative effect on traffic. In short, they have concluded that though closing Meadows Place won’t improve safety at the Marchmont Road junction, it won’t make it worse, and the primary aim of this proposal is to create a safe cycle route from Bruntsfield to Forrest Road.
Heated discussion took place during and after the presentation, and many concerns were raised, including the following:
- Graphs showing the number of accidents at both junctions in the last 10 year were displayed during the presentation. Several strong concerns were raised about the relevance of these figures to the issue in question, and their usefulness in backing up the points being made by the Council representatives.
- The presentation included slides showing details of the accidents at the Meadows Place/Melville Drive junction. These were criticised as being unclear, and it was pointed out that no corresponding details were given for accidents at the Marchmont Road junction.
- No data was provided about pedestrian accidents.
- Only 10% of accidents in this area in the last 10 years have occurred at Meadow Place.
- Many people expressed their personal experiences of using these two junctions, as pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and public transport users. It was felt that personal experience conflicted with the outcomes of the Councl’s modelling.
- Currently it is difficult to turn right at the Marchmont Road junction, causing frustration and impatience in drivers. Closure of Meadows Place would increase the traffic through this junction, making the situation worse, and adding time on to the journey times of buses using this as part of their route. Thus, improving this cycle route might be at the detriment of public transport.
- Historically the Council has made changes in this area without public consultation. The local community feels that expensive mistakes have been made in the past, and urges the Council to listen so that more mistakes aren’t made in the future.
The general view of the meeting was that closing Meadows Place would force more traffic through the Marchmont Road junction. This junction is perceived as being more dangerous than the Meadows Place junction, so to force more traffic that way was unwise and would cause it to become even more dangerous. It was generally felt that adding traffic lights at this junction would make it much safer and able to cope with the additional traffic if Meadows Place were to be closed. The group felt that only if the Council were to improve safety at this junction could it withdraw its objection to the current proposals.
Given that it is extremely unlikely under the present circumstances that the Council will signalise this junction, the group urged the Council to consider innovative solutions to improving the safety at this junction, for example the addition of a box junction. A vote was taken, and the overwhelming majority voted not to withdraw the objection to the closure of Meadows Place.
ACTION
- Brian Butler will write a report for the Tramsport Committee on this issue which will take account of this discussion.
- Marilyne Maclaren advised that the MSCC take a deputation to the next Transport Committee meeting.
- Brian Butler will consider next steps, bearing in mind this discussion, and keep the MSCC updated on any progress.
6 Volunteers for Custody Visiting Scheme
Susanna Lacey informed the group that the police are currently looking for volunteers for this scheme whereby members of the public make spot checks to ensure that people being held in custody are being treated properly. Anyone interested in volunteering should phone 0131 529 4378, e-mail brian.pirie@edinburgh.gov.uk or see the website: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/lbpb
7 Business Parking Permits
Susie Agnew and Monica Higgins informed the group that the Council is now allowing 2 parking permits per business. These can be granted to unliveried vehicles as long as the business can prove they are for essential use, at a cost of £300 if in the extended zone, or £400 in the periphery.
8 Meadows Festival
Susanna Lacey updated the group that the Meadows Festival now has a Management Committee, a constitution and a bank account, and there are plans to hold the event on 7th-8th June this year. The group has many plans for the event and has already worked through much bureaucracy to get this far. They are now looking for many more volunteers to help with various aspects of the event, and in particular require one more volunteer from the MSCC to stand on the committee. This person would need to apply (free of charge) for an enhanced disclosure from Disclosure Scotland.
ACTION: Anyone interested in helping out should contact Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com
9 West End Bus Services
The group agreed to support Morningside and Merchiston Community Council in their lobbying of Lothian Regional Transport to put on a bus that turns left at the bottom of Lothian Road.
ACTION: Susie Agnew will write a letter.
10 Any Other Business
10.1 Environmental Forums
Information about environmental forums for wards 15 and 10 are on the blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
10.2 National Planning Framework Consultation
The Scottish Government is currently running a consultation on the National Planning Framework, which looks at the spatial development of Scotland up to 2030. An open day is being held in Victoria Quay on the 7th March. More information is available on the MSCC blog (http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com/) or by e-mailing Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com
10.3 Edinburgh City Council Leader Annual Report
This is available on the MSCC blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
10.4 1 Meadows Place
Some residents had noticed that development work has resulted in the grass in front of 1 Meadows Place being ruined. The GP responsible for this development work is very apologetic and this area will be re-turfed once this work is finished.
10.5 Meadows Notice Board
Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Place have secured two notice boards for the Meadows, and are happy for Tollcross, Southside and Marchmont & Sciennes Community Councils to make use of these. The group expressed its appreciation.
10.6 Work on Thirlestane Road
There was brief discussion of why yet more work is taking place on Thirlestane Road, and it was explained that the first piece of work didn’t meet the required standards so it has had to be re-done.
10.7 Removal of car parking space
One car parking space is being removed in Spottiswood Street to make space for a refuse container.
10.8 Association of Community Councils
A meeting of the Association of Community Councils will take place in the City Chambers on 15th March. Further details are available on the blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
11 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th March, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
Susie Agnew noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting. In particular she welcomed Susanna Lacey to her first meeting as MSCC secretary, and members of SPOKES who had made a special effort to attend this meeting for the Meadow Place presentation.
2 Minutes of Meeting held 9 January 2008
The minutes were accepted as a true record. (Proposed: Sarah Sandow; Seconded: Mr Malik.)
3 Matters Arising
3.1 Lunch Club
Susie Agnew reported that a preliminary meeting has been held between herself, Mr Malik, Rev Karen Watson and the Sessions Clerk at Marchmont St Giles to discuss the possibility of holding a weekly multicultural lunch club at Marchmont St Giles. The venue is in high demand, so it looks like the club will have a ‘late’ lunch, and the need for menus to cater to both European and Asian tastes was discussed. Someone will be required to run the lunch club, and this will be a paid position of roughly 6 hours per week. The MSCC will be kept updated of progress on this issue.
3.2 Cycle Racks
Susie reported that she had received a letter from Jim Grieve at Edinburgh City Council explaining that the current cycle racks outside James Gillespies are a temporary measure, and that the long-term plan is to provide a separate cycle entrance adjacent to the existing entrance which will lead directly to cycle parking areas within the school grounds.
Cherie Ledlie explained that there are still some concerns amongst parents and teachers, and they would like assurances that teachers will be able to use the racks inside the school grounds. There is also some confusion as to why new gates are required.
ACTION: Susie Agnew will discuss with Cherie Ledlie and Ken Dougall and agree how to pursue this issue further.
3.3 3Ms Youth Partnership
Susie Agnew reported that the 3Ms Youth Partnership has secured a further year of funding to enable Lucy Howie to continue to work with vulnerable young people in the local area. 50% of this funding was provided by the Community Safety Department and 50% from the Children and Families department at Edinburgh City Council. However, during the year the Children and Families Department will explore means for longer term funding.
3.4 Grange Cemetery
Susie Agnew has found out that the Scottish Geneology Society have been gradually working to transcribe the writing from the headstones in the Grange Cemetery. Susie has passed on to them a list of all the headstones that have recently been laid flat, and it may be that they can provide information which will save the MSCC time in its project to get support for reinstating some of these grave stones.
3.5 Secretary
The meeting formally expressed its sincere appreciation for all the work Hugh Leather did during his time as secretary, especially all the time and effort he spent in setting up and sustaining the MSCC blog and other e-communications.
3.6 Neigbourhood Partnership Board
Alastair Philp reported that the Neighbourhood Partnership Board has formally approved the MSCC’s grant application for £1985. He also updated the group that he has received a letter explaining why the South Edinburgh Community Health Partnership Forum was suspended and that a process is underway to ensure the group starts again as soon as possible. Anyone wishing to see this letter should contact Alastair Philp: alastair@mvbio.co.uk
4 Police Report
PC Lindsey Thomson provided an up-to-date police report:
- Housebreaking figures have remained similar over the last four months, with six incidents in January, four of which have been solved. During January the police also distributed leaflets and offered crime prevention advice to residents.
- PC Thomson notified the group of some incidents in Polwarth where men in a white transit van had been using high pressure sales techniques to sell high quantities of low quality fish to residents.
- Cycle theft has fallen in the local area with only 3 incidents in the last month. However, cycle theft has risen in the university area and plain clothes officers have been making efforts to catch those responsible.
- A robbery took place in Threshers on Melville Terrace at 5pm on the 15th February. A well-built man in his late 20s/early 30s, using a kitchen knife as a weapon, stole £260 from the till. Anyone with any information should inform the police.
- Some more incidents of graffiti have taken place, including on the university library, the German church and the Astley Ainsley. The police have caught two graffiti taggers.
- In the last month, three cars have been broken into and four cars vandalised.
- There was a breach of the peace on Strathearn Road in early January.
- The police have been making efforts to monitor crowds of youths congregating on the Meadows. PC Thomson also asked the group to notify her of any known youth ‘hotspots’, and the suggestions of Moncrieff Terrace, the back gate to the Usher Institute and Marchmont Crescent were made.
- The police have been working to engage with local business, finding out about their experience of local crime and advising them on improving the security of their premises.
- There has been a recent spate of break-ins to hairdressers in the Southside area.
An opportunity for group discussion followed:
- There was some discussion of the Council policy on bikes being kept in stairwells and whether the police could work with the Council to reduce the number of bicycles being kept in stairwells. PC Thomson will give this some consideration.
- Marilyne Maclaren suggested that there has been a recent trend of people using scaffolding to spray graffiti on usually inaccessible areas of tenement blocks. The Council won’t remove graffitti from private property, and individuals can’t use existing scaffolding to remove graffiti themselves. This results in graffiti being left in tact on a long-term basis.
Anyone who wants to contact PC Thomson should e-mail: lindsey.thomson@lbp.pnn.police.uk
5 Meadow Place
Susie Agnew explained that the MSCC had previously written a letter objecting to the closure of Meadow Place on the basis that it was unwise to close this road without giving due consideration to the implications this would have for the junction as a whole (Marchmont Road, Melville Drive and Meadows Place) and other related safety issues in this area. The MSCC had previously requested accident statistics from the Council which it felt backed up these concerns, and suggested that the Council should add traffic lights to the Marchmont Road junction to improve safety.
Brian Butler, Interim Transport Services Manager at Edinburgh City Council gave a presentation on the planned closure of Meadows Place, frequently interrupted by questions and concerns from the group. Brian Butler explained that the City of Edinburgh Council local transport strategy for 2007 included as a priority the need to increase cycling in the city. The proposed closure of Meadows Place was intended to complete an unbroken, safe and easy cycle route from Bruntsfield Place to Forrest Road. The MSCC’s objection was the only one that had been raised to this proposal.
Brian Butler explained that a number of accidents had occurred at the Meadows Place junction, and the proposed closure was seen as a straightforward way of making it safer. He explained that although more accidents overall had occurred at the Marchmont Road junction than the Meadows Place Junction, over the last 10 years, three interventions have been made at the Marchmont Road junction which have brought the number of accidents down and changed the type of accident occurring. When making decisions about spending money on improvements, the Council takes into account the cost of the improvement and the benefit expected as a result. Therefore, the perceived reduction in accidents at this junction, combined with the expense of adding traffic lights, means that it would be against the Council’s current policies to signalise this junction.
In addition, he explained that the Council has used modelling tools to predict the effect of the proposed closure on traffic flow in the area, and come to the conclusion that the closure wouldn’t have a significant negative effect on traffic. In short, they have concluded that though closing Meadows Place won’t improve safety at the Marchmont Road junction, it won’t make it worse, and the primary aim of this proposal is to create a safe cycle route from Bruntsfield to Forrest Road.
Heated discussion took place during and after the presentation, and many concerns were raised, including the following:
- Graphs showing the number of accidents at both junctions in the last 10 year were displayed during the presentation. Several strong concerns were raised about the relevance of these figures to the issue in question, and their usefulness in backing up the points being made by the Council representatives.
- The presentation included slides showing details of the accidents at the Meadows Place/Melville Drive junction. These were criticised as being unclear, and it was pointed out that no corresponding details were given for accidents at the Marchmont Road junction.
- No data was provided about pedestrian accidents.
- Only 10% of accidents in this area in the last 10 years have occurred at Meadow Place.
- Many people expressed their personal experiences of using these two junctions, as pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and public transport users. It was felt that personal experience conflicted with the outcomes of the Councl’s modelling.
- Currently it is difficult to turn right at the Marchmont Road junction, causing frustration and impatience in drivers. Closure of Meadows Place would increase the traffic through this junction, making the situation worse, and adding time on to the journey times of buses using this as part of their route. Thus, improving this cycle route might be at the detriment of public transport.
- Historically the Council has made changes in this area without public consultation. The local community feels that expensive mistakes have been made in the past, and urges the Council to listen so that more mistakes aren’t made in the future.
The general view of the meeting was that closing Meadows Place would force more traffic through the Marchmont Road junction. This junction is perceived as being more dangerous than the Meadows Place junction, so to force more traffic that way was unwise and would cause it to become even more dangerous. It was generally felt that adding traffic lights at this junction would make it much safer and able to cope with the additional traffic if Meadows Place were to be closed. The group felt that only if the Council were to improve safety at this junction could it withdraw its objection to the current proposals.
Given that it is extremely unlikely under the present circumstances that the Council will signalise this junction, the group urged the Council to consider innovative solutions to improving the safety at this junction, for example the addition of a box junction. A vote was taken, and the overwhelming majority voted not to withdraw the objection to the closure of Meadows Place.
ACTION
- Brian Butler will write a report for the Tramsport Committee on this issue which will take account of this discussion.
- Marilyne Maclaren advised that the MSCC take a deputation to the next Transport Committee meeting.
- Brian Butler will consider next steps, bearing in mind this discussion, and keep the MSCC updated on any progress.
6 Volunteers for Custody Visiting Scheme
Susanna Lacey informed the group that the police are currently looking for volunteers for this scheme whereby members of the public make spot checks to ensure that people being held in custody are being treated properly. Anyone interested in volunteering should phone 0131 529 4378, e-mail brian.pirie@edinburgh.gov.uk or see the website: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/lbpb
7 Business Parking Permits
Susie Agnew and Monica Higgins informed the group that the Council is now allowing 2 parking permits per business. These can be granted to unliveried vehicles as long as the business can prove they are for essential use, at a cost of £300 if in the extended zone, or £400 in the periphery.
8 Meadows Festival
Susanna Lacey updated the group that the Meadows Festival now has a Management Committee, a constitution and a bank account, and there are plans to hold the event on 7th-8th June this year. The group has many plans for the event and has already worked through much bureaucracy to get this far. They are now looking for many more volunteers to help with various aspects of the event, and in particular require one more volunteer from the MSCC to stand on the committee. This person would need to apply (free of charge) for an enhanced disclosure from Disclosure Scotland.
ACTION: Anyone interested in helping out should contact Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com
9 West End Bus Services
The group agreed to support Morningside and Merchiston Community Council in their lobbying of Lothian Regional Transport to put on a bus that turns left at the bottom of Lothian Road.
ACTION: Susie Agnew will write a letter.
10 Any Other Business
10.1 Environmental Forums
Information about environmental forums for wards 15 and 10 are on the blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
10.2 National Planning Framework Consultation
The Scottish Government is currently running a consultation on the National Planning Framework, which looks at the spatial development of Scotland up to 2030. An open day is being held in Victoria Quay on the 7th March. More information is available on the MSCC blog (http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com/) or by e-mailing Susanna Lacey: slacey1@aol.com
10.3 Edinburgh City Council Leader Annual Report
This is available on the MSCC blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
10.4 1 Meadows Place
Some residents had noticed that development work has resulted in the grass in front of 1 Meadows Place being ruined. The GP responsible for this development work is very apologetic and this area will be re-turfed once this work is finished.
10.5 Meadows Notice Board
Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Place have secured two notice boards for the Meadows, and are happy for Tollcross, Southside and Marchmont & Sciennes Community Councils to make use of these. The group expressed its appreciation.
10.6 Work on Thirlestane Road
There was brief discussion of why yet more work is taking place on Thirlestane Road, and it was explained that the first piece of work didn’t meet the required standards so it has had to be re-done.
10.7 Removal of car parking space
One car parking space is being removed in Spottiswood Street to make space for a refuse container.
10.8 Association of Community Councils
A meeting of the Association of Community Councils will take place in the City Chambers on 15th March. Further details are available on the blog: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com
11 Date of next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th March, beginning at 7.30pm at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.
Monday, 1 October 2007
Improving Representation
There was a meeting tonight at my house to discuss how we might improve the CC's representation (as discussed at the last council meeting). Here are some very brief minutes - nothing like as detailed as the ones that Rebecca produces.
Attendees: Fiona Scott, Hugh Leather, Ken Dougall, Sarah Sandow
We briefly looked the following documents:
We will create a questionnaire for members and people on the mailing list. This will help us to identify our existing representation.
We will create a questionnaire for the general public. We need to know who knows about us and what they think.
We had recommendations for general advertising to be applied before attempting a targeted approach:
All: Devise questions for the questionnaires (send to Hugh)
All: Find designers who might cheaply redesign our posters
Next Meeting:
20:00 30th October at Hugh's
Attendees: Fiona Scott, Hugh Leather, Ken Dougall, Sarah Sandow
We briefly looked the following documents:
- National Standards for Community Engagement
- Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics Guide
- Scottish Index of Multiple privation
- Area Profile (Ward 10 & Ward 15)
- Get more people attending meetings
- Improve the number of people who know about the CC
- Get more information about the CC out
- Come closer the age demographic in representation
- Maintain our match the the area's ethnic composition
- Identify groups, minority or otherwise, and try to get them involved
- Try to match household composition
- Improve geographical coverage
- Improve CC reputation
We will create a questionnaire for members and people on the mailing list. This will help us to identify our existing representation.
We will create a questionnaire for the general public. We need to know who knows about us and what they think.
We had recommendations for general advertising to be applied before attempting a targeted approach:
- Appoint a press officer to ensure exposure in newspapers
- Get the posters redesigned and more widely distributed
All: Devise questions for the questionnaires (send to Hugh)
All: Find designers who might cheaply redesign our posters
Next Meeting:
20:00 30th October at Hugh's
Monday, 6 August 2007
South Central Neighbourhood Partnership - Minutes
Meadows & Morningside and Southside & Newington Neighbourhood Partnership
Note of the ‘Inaugural Business Meeting’ – 27 June 2007
Board Members Present:
Councillors: Steve Burgess, Ian Perry, Mark McInnes, Gordon MacKenzie, Cameron Rose and Alison Johnstone (joined at 8pm)
Community Council Representatives: (nominated and / or substitutes)
Bridget Stevens and Rebecca Brooks, Merchiston CC
Colin Christison and Robert Beaten, Southside CC
Ann Wigglesworth and Andy Devenport, Tollcross CC
Alastair Philp and Anne Laird Marchmont & Sciennes CC
Jean Thomson and Aline Haggart, Morningside CC
Others:
Robert Aitken, NHS Lothian
Inspector Tom Galbraith, Lothian & Borders Police
Non–Board Members Present:
Susan Bruce, SfC Neighbourhood Manager (NM)
David Wright, Children & Families Neighbourhood Manager
Mary Dunbar, SfC Performance & Information Manager (PIM) (interim)
Alan Stewart, SfC Customer Relations Team Leader
Ian Brooke, Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council (EVOC)
| Item | Detail | Action |
| 1. | Welcome and Introductions:
|
|
| 2.
| Apologies:
|
|
| 3.
| Neighbourhood Partnership Board Membership:
| EVOC
|
| 4. | Name: (To be agreed at Inaugural NP Meeting)
| Recommended |
| 5.
| Constitution & Protocol Framework:
|
|
| 6 | NP Operation and Business Arrangements:
| Recommended
|
| 7. | Proposals for Nominations for NP Convener
|
|
| 8. | Setting Priorities & Forward Planning:
|
NP /NM /PIM |
| 9. | NP Support and Development Events:
|
PIM |
| 10. | AOCB:
|
|
| 11. | Date of first meeting
| Recommended |
Monday, 25 June 2007
City of Edinburgh Council and Community Councils Joint Meeting
TO: COMMUNITY COUNCIL SECRETARIES
22 June 2007
Dear Secretary
Community Council Joint Meeting
I enclose the minute from the community council joint meeting on 25 April which focused on neighbourhood partnerships. The meeting attracted a high level of interest from community councils and generated some lively discussion on the new arrangements for neighbourhood partnerships. A copy of the minute is also available on the community council site at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/communitycouncils.
Neighbourhood Partnership Membership
Thank you for submitting your nominations for the Neighbourhood Partnerships. In most cases it has been possible for preferences to be accommodated whilst meeting the constitutional requirement for community councillors and community representatives to be equal in number on a neighbourhood partnership.
In areas where community councils have sought membership of 2 neighbourhood partnerships this can be accommodated on an interim basis, provided there are sufficient places available. However this will be subject to review in the event of new community councils being established. Priority will always be given to community councils whose boundary sits fully within the Neighbourhood Partnership area.
I have enclosed a table showing the current position regarding community council representation on neighbourhood partnerships and the contact details of the 6 neighbourhood teams.
Edinburgh Association of Community Councils AGM – 30 June
The EACC AGM will take place on Saturday 30 June at 10 am in the City Chambers. There will be a presentation at the AGM from the Edinburgh University students who took part in a study of Edinburgh’s community councils.
Diary Inserts
I have enclosed diary inserts for the period September to December 2007.
Yours sincerely
Eileen Hewitt
Community Council Liaison Officer
Tel 469 3838
COMMUNITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATION ON NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNERSHIPS
|
| Neighbourhood Partnership | No of Cllrs | No of CCs | Watching brief |
| 1 | City Centre | 3 | 3 (Old Town, West End, New Town/Broughton) | 1 (Tollcross) |
| 2 | Craigentinny/Duddingston | 3 | 2 (Craigentinny/Meadowbank, Northfield/Willowbrae) |
|
| 3 | Portobello/Craigmillar | 3 | 2 (Portobello, Craigmillar) |
|
| 4 | Liberton/Gilmerton | 4 | 1 (Liberton) |
|
| 5 | Southside/Newington | 8 | 5 (Marchmont & Sciennes, Merchiston, Tollcross, Morningside, Southside) |
|
| 6 | Sighthill/Gorgie;Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart | 7 | 6 (Hutchison/Chesser, Stenhouse, Gorgie/Dalry, Craiglockhart, Longstone, Merchiston) Sighthill, Broomhouse & Parkhead tbc | 1 (Tollcross) |
| 7 | Pentland Hills; Colinton/Fairmilehead | 6 | 6 (Currie, Balerno, Fairmilehead, Longstone, Firrhill, Ratho) |
|
| 8 | Drum Brae/Gyle; Corstorphine/Murrayfield (West) | 6 | 3 (Corstorphine, Drumbrae, Murrayfield) | 1 (West End) |
| 9 | Almond | 3 | To be confirmed | 1 (Corstorphine) |
| 10 | Forth | 4 | 4 (Royston/Wardieburn, Muirhhouse/Salvesen, West Pilton/West Granton, Trinity) | 1 (Drylaw Telford) |
| 11 | Inverleith | 4 | 2 (Stockbridge/Inverleith, Drylaw/Telford) | 2 (New Town/ Broughton & West End) |
| 12 | Leith; Leith Walk | 7 | 3 (Leith Harbour & Newhaven, Leith Central, Leith Links) | 1 (New Town /Broughton) |
Central Team
Jenni Brown – Neighbourhood Manager
1 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh EH1 1BJ
0131 529 7061
North Team
Pete Strong – Neighbourhood Manager
8 West Pilton Gardens
Edinburgh EH4 4DP
0131 529 5050
East Team
Susan Mooney – Neighbourhood Manager
86 Niddrie Mains Road
Edinburgh EH16 4DT
0131 529 3111
South Team
Susan Bruce – Neighbourhood Manager
40 Captain’s Road
Edinburgh EH17 8QF
0131 529 5151
South West Team
Graham Kitching – Neighbourhood Manager
10 Westside Plaza
Edinburgh EH14 2ET
0131 527 3800
southwestteam@edinburgh.gov.uk
West Team
Natalie Hoy – Neighbourhood Manager
Chesser House
500 Gorgie Road
Edinburgh EH11 3YJ
0131 529 7440
City of Edinburgh Council and Community Councils Joint Meeting
Edinburgh, 25 April 2007
Large Meeting Room, Waverley Court, Edinburgh
Those Present:
The City of Edinburgh Council: Councillor Ewan Aitken, Leader of the Council
Officers in Attendance from Services for Communties :
Angela Leitch (Head of Performance and Community Engagement); Gordon Greenhill (Head of Community Safety); Susan Mooney, (Neighbourhood Manager, East and South); Peter Strong (Neighbourhood Manager – North) Graham Kitching / Natalie Hoy (Neighbourhood Managers- West and South West); Michele Mulvaney (Community Engagement Manager) Mary Dunbar (Partnership and Information Manager – East) Beverley Burgess (West LDC Co-ordinator) Eileen Hewitt (Community Council Liaison & Development Officer) and Alasdair Fuller (Administrative Assistant, Services for Communities).
Community Council Representatives:
| Community Council | Delegates |
| Ken Shade | Balerno |
| Robert Dearness | Corstorphine |
| Sheila Ramsay | Corstorphine |
| Kenneth Swinney | Corstorphine |
| Giacomo Modica | Craigentinny/Meadowbank |
| Bob Ramsay | Craigentinny/Meadowbank |
| Angela Wright | Craigentinny/Meadowbank |
| Tom Crombie | Craiglockhart |
| Percy Fekety | Cramond |
| Ross Wilkinson | Cramond |
| Patricia Eason | Cramond |
| Dave Pickering | Drylaw/Telford |
| Norman Tinlin | Fairmilehead |
| Louise Maguire | Fairmilehead |
| Peggy Wright | Firrhill |
| Maureen Nisbet | Gorgie/Dalry |
| Fiona McLean | Gorgie/Dalry |
| Gerry Corbett | Gorgie/Dalry |
| Hugh Townsend | Gorgie/Dalry |